Project Sketch
“Helping Mother Nature” Big Idea - Helping Mother Nature
Essential Question - How can you improve your environmental impact on your school and your local community?
Challenge - Educate and provide real-life examples of environmental sustainability in your school and community.
Kelly, Activity #1:What can you, as a 3rd grade, do to improve your environmental impact on your school and community?
Students will create a schoolyard habitat, researching wildlife they can attract and xeriscaping with native sustainable landscaping, birdhouses, bird bath, etc. Students will educate and provide real-life examples of environmental sustainability in their school and community. The goal of this project is to encourage students to think about how caring for their neighborhood helps to keep the environment stable and healthy. This service-learning project is a challenge for the students to not only improve their mindset towards environmental sustainability, but it will also improve the natural conditions in which they live.
Students will create knowledge through the process of inquiry based on multiple evidence.
Students will write a persuasive letter to businesses (Home Depot, Garden Centers, Landscaping Companies, City of Castle Rock) to convince them to donate (financial or resources) to the project. 21st century skills to include Systems thinking with exposure to financial literacy, ethics, problem solving.
Entry event: Viewing of the The Lorax.
Create habitat teams. Research Native Plants for xeriscaping and sustainability. Habitat Basics - Learn what wildlife species need from their habitat, how to fulfill those needs through the Schoolyard Habitat, and how to attract certain wildlife to the site. Cost estimations. Fundraising, donations - proposal, letter writing. Site location, preparing the ground. Constructing birdhouses/feeders. Gardening basics. Field trip to the Butterfly Pavillion. https://www.butterflies.org/
Google Chrome Diary Apps - Possible Apps: Diaro, Penzu, My Diary
Discovery Ed - Butterfly and plant life cycle videos to lead to Venn diagram and then write a paragraph on comparison and analyzing (assessment). Use WCO vocab in prompt. Board builder.
Enchanted Learning--life cycle booklets (butterflies and plants)
Brain Pop Jr--life cycles on plants and butterflies
Pinterest board for Lorax PBL Website to order class t-shirts
A-Z Science books...get online subscription for leveled books
Michelle, Activity #2:Name of Project: Clean Water Project / Raising awareness for water conservation Project objective: When students complete this project they will be able to identify the stages of the water cycle and how wasting and/or contaminating water will impact our environment, our community, and people in other countries. · Identify- Research – the water cycle, ground water, conservation, and environment issues · Technology - interactive video on water cycle, music video on ground water, ePal website to communicate and collaborate with classrooms in other states and countries about water conservation Essential question: How can you improve your environmental impact on your school and your local community? Guided Questions: · What is the water cycle? · Where do we get our drinking water? · How much water do we use every day in our home and at school? · What are some ways we use water in our home and at school? · How can we help our community, environment, and people in other countries by conserving water? Guided Activity: (Project Sketch) The activity will begin with a review of the Water Cycle. The discussion and review will guide the students into the lesson and activity on ground water, water conservation, and the environmental impact of wasting water and contaminating water has in our community and in other countries. The PBL group will collaborate and research the ways we use, waste, and contaminate water. They will break into groups and participate in the following activities: · Create a Conservation Contract to use with their families and families in our school district and community · Make Water Cycle Bracelets to sell and raise money for “The Water Project” Activity: 1. The lesson will begin with a review of the water cycle using the interactive video to recall information and connect their prior knowledge to the lesson on Ground Water.__http://www.epa.gov/ogwdw/kids/flash/flash_watercycle.html__ 2. Students will create beaded bracelets that represent the water cycle. Materials will include: White yarn for threading beads, yellow beads (sun), green beads (ground water), clear beads (water vapor), white beads (condensation / clouds), blue beads (precipitation). The link below provides instructions and a comprehension worksheet to assess students understanding of the water cycle. 3. The teacher will introduce the lesson on Ground Water and ask the students the Guided Question “Where do we get our drinking water?” And “How can we help our community, environment, and people in other countries by conserving water? “ After the group discussion the teacher will show the music video on ground water -__http://www.kingcounty.gov/environment/waterandland/groundwater/education/animation.aspx__ 4. The students will break into groups and brainstorm the different ways we use water at home and in our school. They will create a Mindmap that they can use to recall information to create their group poster and develop a Water Conservation Contract for their families, classmates in their school, and members in the community to raise water conservation awareness. 5. The students will use Thirstens Wacky Water Adventure booklet provided by the EPA as a resource and interactive way to find facts on water conservation and the water cycle. __http://water.epa.gov/learn/kids/drinkingwater/upload/activity_grades_k-3_activitybook.pdf__ 6. Measuring progress / Assessments – As each group brainstorms they will add their ideas to the PBL Mindmap. Each group will document their research by documenting/journaling their resources. As each groups research progresses they will complete the following · Water Cycle comprehension worksheet · Water Cycle bracelet · EPA water adventure packet. · Rough draft of Conservation Contract · Final copy of Conservation Contract
Guiding Resources: Refer to groups Diigo for links to resources
Gina, Activity #3: BACKGROUND This lesson is on recycling. This lesson is meant to help students develop an understanding of how many of the common items we use every day are made and how recycling can help reduce waste. Our Essential question to be answered is “What can you do to improve your environmental impact on your school and community”? The Roots of Trash invites students to take a closer look at the everyday items they throw in the trash. Students are prompted think about what everyday products—such as bottles, cans, cartons, plastic, and food—are made of and how they are generally produced. They learn about natural resources, both renewable and nonrenewable, and work in teams to further research and report on how these resources and products are developed and used up before being discarded in the trash. It will be helpful if students begin to see that advancements in technology over the years have led manufacturers to use some natural resources much more rapidly than they can be replenished. Also keep in mind that research on student understanding of materials suggests that the tasks of classifying objects according to what they are made of and of comparing properties of materials can be challenging. Planning Ahead These items will need to be placed in a plastic bag, as if they are throwaway trash. Before the lesson begins, you will want to place this bag of trash in a class trash basket in front of the class. · Plastic bag · Milk carton · Aluminum soft drink can · Glass bottle · A half-eaten hamburger, hot dog, or other beef (meat) product
Teacher Fact Sheets: Natural Resource http://www.epa.gov/osw/education/quest/pdfs/sections/u1_chap1.pdf and http://www.epa.gov/osw/education/quest/pdfs/sections/u1_chap2.pdf PURPOSE To begin the lesson walk over to the classroom trash bin. Grab students' attention by going through the bin as if you're looking for something. Then pull out the plastic bag you placed there before. (Ask the students) What is this? (holding up the bag) Once they recognize that it's trash, dump the contents of the bag on your desk and have the class identify the soda can, milk carton, glass bottle, beef product, and plastic bag itself. Continue the research by asking: Where do you think this trash came from? What kinds of things do you throw away? What kind of garbage is your house? Next, hand out a student sheet called What Are Things Made Of; explain the directions, direct students to walk around the classroom or school looking for items that interest them. (Tell them they can look anywhere) As directed, in the first column they should list items whose composition they know and in the second column, items whose composition they don’t know. When students are finished exploring and filling out their sheets, take time to discuss and compare their findings. On the board, list several correct examples from each of the two categories. Help students come up with information on the composition. Make sure you discuss the items from the trash bag. Help prepare students for a discussion of different kinds of natural resources and a research activity in the development section. PROGRESS Use the discussion of students' findings as a basis for introducing and talking about the concepts of natural resources (useful materials from the earth, such as coal, oil, natural gas, and trees), renewable resources (resources that can be replenished at approximately the same rate at which they are used), and nonrenewable resources (resources that become depleted more quickly than they naturally regenerate). This can be done by asking questions such as these: · What are natural resources? · What are renewable resources? (What do you think renewable means?) · What are nonrenewable resources? (What do you think nonrenewable means?) Once students have a working understanding of what renewable and nonrenewable resources are. List on the board five resource categories: animals, fossil fuels, metals, plants/trees, and sand. Ask this question: Do you think this resource is renewable or nonrenewable? Help students see that animals, plants/trees, and sand are renewable resources, while many fossil fuels and metals are nonrenewable. Help students to think of examples of items in each of these categories. Include items from the trash bag. (Examples of products made from fossil fuels include trash bags, tires, clothing, plastic containers, and luggage. Common products made from sand include glass bottles, mirrors, windows, concrete, and paint.) Questions that might come from the discussion. "How do they turn sand into bottles?" or "How are tires made from fossil fuels?" Explain that they are going to have a chance to find the answers themselves. Ask questions such as: · How do you think animal meat is turned into a hot dog? · What kinds of things are needed to make hot dogs? · What kinds of people do you think are involved in turning meat into hot dogs? Divide the class into five teams. Assign each team a piece of trash from your desk. These five products and the natural resources from which they are made are: · Plastic bag—fossil fuels · Milk carton—paper/trees · Soda can—metals · Glass bottle—sand · Meat item (beef)—animals Hand out the form Roots of Trash. Point out the separate Product and Natural Resource categories and read over the questions to help students understand the objective.
Note: Select the questions for students to answer based on their level and abilities.
Inform students that they will need to work together using library resources and the Internet to find information about the trashed product and the natural resource that was used to manufacture it.
Assessment Once all teams have completed their student sheets, have them present their findings to the class. Encourage an open class discussion of each of these typical throwaway products and the natural resources that are used to produce them. Before this lesson, did you ever think about the things you threw away? Why or why not? Do you think people should think about these kinds of things? Why or why not? What did you find most interesting about the products or natural resources you researched? Why? Are you surprised by all the technology that is involved in turning natural resources into everyday products? What if we didn't have science and technology? Would we have tires? Glass bottles? What would life be like without these things?
Mark, Activity #4: Water Bottle Recycling Program Driving Question: How can recycling water bottles help the environment and others? The students will create a water bottle recycling program at our school after researching the environmental and economic impact. Once they research the impact they will create a marketing program at the school as well as set up recycling bins. The students will keep track of how much money is brought in and use the money at the end of the school year for a need they see at school. Technology: · Students will watch videos on YouTube and discovery education about water bottle recycling. · Students will research about trash in our oceans and recycling on the internet. · Students will create electronic recycling posters on Glogster. · Students will create a recycling forecast on Google Docs. They will update it with actual amounts. · Students will create physical posters on recycling on Microsoft Word. Introduction: The activity will start brainstorming what happens to a water bottle when it is thrown into a trashcan. They will think about where the bottle goes, how long it takes to break down and be naturally recycled (decompose), how many bottles are thrown away every day in the United States. This will be discussed as a class. Research: Individually the students will watch the video Recycling Plastic Water Bottles on YouTube. This video will inform the students of what happens to a water bottle when it is recycled. Next, the students will watch the video Stuff Happens with Bill Nye: Beach on Discovery Education. This video will lead them into learning about the Great Pacific garbage patch. The students will research how much a water bottle can get in recycling, what types of bottles can be recycled, and where to recycle the water bottles. This lead to the class to action: to recycle water bottles to help others and prevent the bottles from entering the landfill or garbage patch. Call to action: · One group will use their research to create a Glogster where they teach the importance and benefits of recycling. This will be shown to the other classrooms around school. · Another group will use Microsoft Word to create physical posters to be placed around the campus. These posters will remind the school on the importance of recycling, what can be recycled, and where to place the recycling. · A third group will create a projected budget on Google Spreadsheets including anticipated income from the recycling for each day, week, month, and over the school year. This spreadsheet will be updated with actual returns after the weekly recycling. · The fourth group will compose a letter to Grace Public School to solicit feedback on what can be purchased through Amazon India for the school. This letter will include projected low, middle, and the high projected returns based upon the recycling. Assessment: The assessment will include a self-assessment and teacher assessment. The students will self-assess their cooperation and teamwork, and their individual and group quality of work. The teacher will assess their final product as well as their teamwork. Finally, there will be a writing assignment where the students describe what happens to a water bottle when it is and is not recycled, why recycling is important, and how others can benefit from recycling.
Jaimi, Activity #5: Waste-Free Lunches
Guiding Questions · How can we make other students aware of the impacts of food waste in our school, community and world? · What experiences or opportunities can our class and school participate in which would enable us to support sustainability practices through waste control? · How can we measure our food waste control progress? Guiding Activity 1. Begin the lesson with a message from Kid President. Explain it can apply to many facets of living and learning, but ask your students to think of “changing the world” in context of the environment.__https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4z7gDsSKUmU__ 2. The teacher will begin by discussing the word “waste”, its definition and what students think of when they hear the word. This whole group discussion will lead into “food waste”. Students will then work in small groups to make predictions as to how much food waste – (garbage associated with food… including packing, napkins, actual food) comes from the school cafeteria each day. Teacher will provide students with the ugly truth – the weight of one day’s worth of cafeteria garbage, (with the help of our janitor). __http://www.endfoodwastenow.org/index.php/issues/issues-schools__ 3. The Stats: Students will watch these YouTube videos about food waste to give them a clearer idea of its effect on our world. · __https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7xBzAqnXZJc__ · __https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EwVuz0UJl2A__ 4. Realizing the Importance: Students will work in teacher-chosen PBL groups to brainstorm ways to educate their peers and the school’s population about the amount of cafeteria food waste and its effects on the world. They may take statistics and use them to compare and create a better understanding of the intensity of the problem. They may use technology and visual representations to make their points clear and their messages engaging. A great digital tool is the Prezi, (www.prezi.com) a storytelling tool for presenting ideas. 5. Reaching Out: Groups will present their statistics through their chosen technology or visual representation to the class. They will be assessed by a rubric they were given before they created their presentation. The group with the most effective version of the information will be chosen to present to the entire school as an introduction to a future informational event. 6. Research: Now that the students understand why the cause for food waste control is so worthy, they must begin their research for effectively reducing food waste in their school cafeteria. A few ideas are found below but student PBL groups are in charge of research in its entirety. · Composting __http://www.greenmountainfarmtoschool.org/wp/wp-content/uploads/Guide-to-Staring-a-School-Compost-Program.pdf__ · Food for Pigs/Farms__https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qn9siiIiDw4__ · Examples of schools with No-Waste policies__http://www.wastefreelunches.org/SchoolsReduceWaste.html__ __https://hawthorne-elmhurstcusd205-il.schoolloop.com/cms/page_view?d=x&piid=&vpid=1380276808014__ 7. Time to Act: Upon beginning the first tier of reducing food waste in their school cafeteria, each group will work on different tasks with the same goal in mind: to reduce cafeteria waste by 50 pounds a week. (This project will be ongoing and as goals are met, they will be reassessed and changed as time goes on). · One group will write a grant to obtain funds that would help in the purchasing of re-usable sandwich containers, so students would not need throwaway baggiess. A parent-school connection will also be necessary. · One group will hold a special fundraiser, where they will use the funds to help the school purchase a purified water fountain where students could fill up their reusable water bottles. This would promote the consumption of more water (vs. soda and juice) and would also lessen the trash from juice box containers. A parent-school connection will also be necessary. · Another group will take care of the communication of this project by creating e-newsletters, a blog and daily announcements promoting and encouraging a waste-free school. This will be the essential parent-school connection so that this goal will be more easily met. · The last group will be in charge of the composting: setting up and assisting with the new lunchtime dump routine, while also adding to the creation and maintenance that goes along with composting. 8. Measuring Progress: Depending on your school and their available resources and assistance, measuring progress can be accomplished in a few different forms. Weighing the garbage would be the most reliable option, however, some schools may not have large scales. Another much more practical option lies in counting the bags of garbage. Before beginning this PBL project, ask your janitor to count the amount of garbage bags leaving the cafeteria. 9. Beyond Tier 1: Depending on where the students are at with their goals, the teacher may want to move on with the next step of the Waste-Free Cafeteria movement. This could be as simple as raising goals and keeping in communication with parents, or it could involve transforming your school cafeteria even further.
Assessment: Students will be assessed through rubrics with specific categories such as organization, research, communication etc.
“Helping Mother Nature”
Big Idea - Helping Mother Nature
Essential Question - How can you improve your environmental impact on your school and your local community?
Challenge - Educate and provide real-life examples of environmental sustainability in your school and community.
Kelly, Activity #1: What can you, as a 3rd grade, do to improve your environmental impact on your school and community?
Students will create a schoolyard habitat, researching wildlife they can attract and xeriscaping with native sustainable landscaping, birdhouses, bird bath, etc. Students will educate and provide real-life examples of environmental sustainability in their school and community. The goal of this project is to encourage students to think about how caring for their neighborhood helps to keep the environment stable and healthy. This service-learning project is a challenge for the students to not only improve their mindset towards environmental sustainability, but it will also improve the natural conditions in which they live.
Students will create knowledge through the process of inquiry based on multiple evidence.
Students will write a persuasive letter to businesses (Home Depot, Garden Centers, Landscaping Companies, City of Castle Rock) to convince them to donate (financial or resources) to the project.
21st century skills to include Systems thinking with exposure to financial literacy, ethics, problem solving.
Entry event: Viewing of the The Lorax.
Create habitat teams. Research Native Plants for xeriscaping and sustainability. Habitat Basics - Learn what wildlife species need from their habitat, how to fulfill those needs through the Schoolyard Habitat, and how to attract certain wildlife to the site. Cost estimations. Fundraising, donations - proposal, letter writing. Site location, preparing the ground. Constructing birdhouses/feeders. Gardening basics. Field trip to the Butterfly Pavillion. https://www.butterflies.org/
Article -__https://newsela.com/articles/butterfly-gmos/id/5103/__
Google Chrome Diary Apps - Possible Apps: Diaro, Penzu, My Diary
Discovery Ed - Butterfly and plant life cycle videos to lead to Venn diagram and then write a paragraph on comparison and analyzing (assessment). Use WCO vocab in prompt. Board builder.
Enchanted Learning--life cycle booklets (butterflies and plants)
Brain Pop Jr--life cycles on plants and butterflies
Pinterest board for Lorax PBL
Website to order class t-shirts
A-Z Science books...get online subscription for leveled books
__http://www.nwf.org/How-to-Help/Garden-for-Wildlife/Schoolyard-Habitats.aspx__
http://www.projectwild.org/ProjectWILDK-12CurriculumandActivityGuide.htm
Michelle, Activity #2: Name of Project: Clean Water Project / Raising awareness for water conservation
Project objective: When students complete this project they will be able to identify the stages of the water cycle and how wasting and/or contaminating water will impact our environment, our community, and people in other countries.
· Identify- Research – the water cycle, ground water, conservation, and environment issues
· Technology - interactive video on water cycle, music video on ground water, ePal website to communicate and collaborate with classrooms in other states and countries about water conservation
Essential question: How can you improve your environmental impact on your school and your local community?
Guided Questions:
· What is the water cycle?
· Where do we get our drinking water?
· How much water do we use every day in our home and at school?
· What are some ways we use water in our home and at school?
· How can we help our community, environment, and people in other countries by conserving water?
Guided Activity: (Project Sketch)
The activity will begin with a review of the Water Cycle. The discussion and review will guide the students into the lesson and activity on ground water, water conservation, and the environmental impact of wasting water and contaminating water has in our community and in other countries. The PBL group will collaborate and research the ways we use, waste, and contaminate water. They will break into groups and participate in the following activities:
· Create a Conservation Contract to use with their families and families in our school district and community
· Make Water Cycle Bracelets to sell and raise money for “The Water Project”
Activity:
1. The lesson will begin with a review of the water cycle using the interactive video to recall information and connect their prior knowledge to the lesson on Ground Water.__http://www.epa.gov/ogwdw/kids/flash/flash_watercycle.html__
2. Students will create beaded bracelets that represent the water cycle. Materials will include: White yarn for threading beads, yellow beads (sun), green beads (ground water), clear beads (water vapor), white beads (condensation / clouds), blue beads (precipitation). The link below provides instructions and a comprehension worksheet to assess students understanding of the water cycle.
3. The teacher will introduce the lesson on Ground Water and ask the students the Guided Question “Where do we get our drinking water?” And “How can we help our community, environment, and people in other countries by conserving water? “ After the group discussion the teacher will show the music video on ground water -__http://www.kingcounty.gov/environment/waterandland/groundwater/education/animation.aspx__
4. The students will break into groups and brainstorm the different ways we use water at home and in our school. They will create a Mindmap that they can use to recall information to create their group poster and develop a Water Conservation Contract for their families, classmates in their school, and members in the community to raise water conservation awareness.
5. The students will use Thirstens Wacky Water Adventure booklet provided by the EPA as a resource and interactive way to find facts on water conservation and the water cycle. __http://water.epa.gov/learn/kids/drinkingwater/upload/activity_grades_k-3_activitybook.pdf__
6. Measuring progress / Assessments – As each group brainstorms they will add their ideas to the PBL Mindmap. Each group will document their research by documenting/journaling their resources. As each groups research progresses they will complete the following
· Water Cycle comprehension worksheet
· Water Cycle bracelet
· EPA water adventure packet.
· Rough draft of Conservation Contract
· Final copy of Conservation Contract
- 8. Additional student resources: __http://wateruseitwisely.com/100-ways-to-conserve/?view=list__ (ways we use water daily)
Guiding Resources: Refer to groups Diigo for links to resourcesGina, Activity #3:
BACKGROUND
This lesson is on recycling. This lesson is meant to help students develop an understanding of how many of the common items we use every day are made and how recycling can help reduce waste. Our Essential question to be answered is “What can you do to improve your environmental impact on your school and community”?
The Roots of Trash invites students to take a closer look at the everyday items they throw in the trash. Students are prompted think about what everyday products—such as bottles, cans, cartons, plastic, and food—are made of and how they are generally produced. They learn about natural resources, both renewable and nonrenewable, and work in teams to further research and report on how these resources and products are developed and used up before being discarded in the trash. It will be helpful if students begin to see that advancements in technology over the years have led manufacturers to use some natural resources much more rapidly than they can be replenished. Also keep in mind that research on student understanding of materials suggests that the tasks of classifying objects according to what they are made of and of comparing properties of materials can be challenging.
Planning Ahead
These items will need to be placed in a plastic bag, as if they are throwaway trash. Before the lesson begins, you will want to place this bag of trash in a class trash basket in front of the class.
· Plastic bag
· Milk carton
· Aluminum soft drink can
· Glass bottle
· A half-eaten hamburger, hot dog, or other beef (meat) product
Teacher Fact Sheets: Natural Resource
http://www.epa.gov/osw/education/quest/pdfs/sections/u1_chap1.pdf and http://www.epa.gov/osw/education/quest/pdfs/sections/u1_chap2.pdf
PURPOSE
To begin the lesson walk over to the classroom trash bin. Grab students' attention by going through the bin as if you're looking for something. Then pull out the plastic bag you placed there before. (Ask the students) What is this? (holding up the bag)
Once they recognize that it's trash, dump the contents of the bag on your desk and have the class identify the soda can, milk carton, glass bottle, beef product, and plastic bag itself. Continue the research by asking:
Where do you think this trash came from? What kinds of things do you throw away? What kind of garbage is your house?
Next, hand out a student sheet called What Are Things Made Of; explain the directions, direct students to walk around the classroom or school looking for items that interest them. (Tell them they can look anywhere) As directed, in the first column they should list items whose composition they know and in the second column, items whose composition they don’t know.
When students are finished exploring and filling out their sheets, take time to discuss and compare their findings. On the board, list several correct examples from each of the two categories. Help students come up with information on the composition.
Make sure you discuss the items from the trash bag. Help prepare students for a discussion of different kinds of natural resources and a research activity in the development section.
PROGRESS
Use the discussion of students' findings as a basis for introducing and talking about the concepts of natural resources (useful materials from the earth, such as coal, oil, natural gas, and trees), renewable resources (resources that can be replenished at approximately the same rate at which they are used), and nonrenewable resources (resources that become depleted more quickly than they naturally regenerate). This can be done by asking questions such as these:
· What are natural resources?
· What are renewable resources? (What do you think renewable means?)
· What are nonrenewable resources? (What do you think nonrenewable means?)
Once students have a working understanding of what renewable and nonrenewable resources are. List on the board five resource categories: animals, fossil fuels, metals, plants/trees, and sand. Ask this question: Do you think this resource is renewable or nonrenewable? Help students see that animals, plants/trees, and sand are renewable resources, while many fossil fuels and metals are nonrenewable.
Help students to think of examples of items in each of these categories. Include items from the trash bag. (Examples of products made from fossil fuels include trash bags, tires, clothing, plastic containers, and luggage. Common products made from sand include glass bottles, mirrors, windows, concrete, and paint.)
Questions that might come from the discussion. "How do they turn sand into bottles?" or "How are tires made from fossil fuels?" Explain that they are going to have a chance to find the answers themselves. Ask questions such as:
· How do you think animal meat is turned into a hot dog?
· What kinds of things are needed to make hot dogs?
· What kinds of people do you think are involved in turning meat into hot dogs?
Divide the class into five teams. Assign each team a piece of trash from your desk. These five products and the natural resources from which they are made are:
· Plastic bag—fossil fuels
· Milk carton—paper/trees
· Soda can—metals
· Glass bottle—sand
· Meat item (beef)—animals
Hand out the form Roots of Trash. Point out the separate Product and Natural Resource categories and read over the questions to help students understand the objective.
Note: Select the questions for students to answer based on their level and abilities.
Inform students that they will need to work together using library resources and the Internet to find information about the trashed product and the natural resource that was used to manufacture it.
Assessment
Once all teams have completed their student sheets, have them present their findings to the class. Encourage an open class discussion of each of these typical throwaway products and the natural resources that are used to produce them.
Before this lesson, did you ever think about the things you threw away? Why or why not? Do you think people should think about these kinds of things? Why or why not? What did you find most interesting about the products or natural resources you researched? Why? Are you surprised by all the technology that is involved in turning natural resources into everyday products? What if we didn't have science and technology? Would we have tires? Glass bottles? What would life be like without these things?
Mark, Activity #4:
Water Bottle Recycling Program
Driving Question:
How can recycling water bottles help the environment and others?
The students will create a water bottle recycling program at our school after researching the environmental and economic impact. Once they research the impact they will create a marketing program at the school as well as set up recycling bins. The students will keep track of how much money is brought in and use the money at the end of the school year for a need they see at school.
Technology:
· Students will watch videos on YouTube and discovery education about water bottle recycling.
· Students will research about trash in our oceans and recycling on the internet.
· Students will create electronic recycling posters on Glogster.
· Students will create a recycling forecast on Google Docs. They will update it with actual amounts.
· Students will create physical posters on recycling on Microsoft Word.
Introduction:
The activity will start brainstorming what happens to a water bottle when it is thrown into a trashcan. They will think about where the bottle goes, how long it takes to break down and be naturally recycled (decompose), how many bottles are thrown away every day in the United States. This will be discussed as a class.
Research:
Individually the students will watch the video Recycling Plastic Water Bottles on YouTube. This video will inform the students of what happens to a water bottle when it is recycled.
Next, the students will watch the video Stuff Happens with Bill Nye: Beach on Discovery Education. This video will lead them into learning about the Great Pacific garbage patch. The students will research how much a water bottle can get in recycling, what types of bottles can be recycled, and where to recycle the water bottles. This lead to the class to action: to recycle water bottles to help others and prevent the bottles from entering the landfill or garbage patch.
Call to action:
· One group will use their research to create a Glogster where they teach the importance and benefits of recycling. This will be shown to the other classrooms around school.
· Another group will use Microsoft Word to create physical posters to be placed around the campus. These posters will remind the school on the importance of recycling, what can be recycled, and where to place the recycling.
· A third group will create a projected budget on Google Spreadsheets including anticipated income from the recycling for each day, week, month, and over the school year. This spreadsheet will be updated with actual returns after the weekly recycling.
· The fourth group will compose a letter to Grace Public School to solicit feedback on what can be purchased through Amazon India for the school. This letter will include projected low, middle, and the high projected returns based upon the recycling.
Assessment:
The assessment will include a self-assessment and teacher assessment. The students will self-assess their cooperation and teamwork, and their individual and group quality of work. The teacher will assess their final product as well as their teamwork. Finally, there will be a writing assignment where the students describe what happens to a water bottle when it is and is not recycled, why recycling is important, and how others can benefit from recycling.
Jaimi, Activity #5: Waste-Free Lunches
Guiding Questions
· How can we make other students aware of the impacts of food waste in our school, community and world?
· What experiences or opportunities can our class and school participate in which would enable us to support sustainability practices through waste control?
· How can we measure our food waste control progress?
Guiding Activity
1. Begin the lesson with a message from Kid President. Explain it can apply to many facets of living and learning, but ask your students to think of “changing the world” in context of the environment.__https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4z7gDsSKUmU__
2. The teacher will begin by discussing the word “waste”, its definition and what students think of when they hear the word. This whole group discussion will lead into “food waste”. Students will then work in small groups to make predictions as to how much food waste – (garbage associated with food… including packing, napkins, actual food) comes from the school cafeteria each day. Teacher will provide students with the ugly truth – the weight of one day’s worth of cafeteria garbage, (with the help of our janitor).
__http://www.endfoodwastenow.org/index.php/issues/issues-schools__
3. The Stats: Students will watch these YouTube videos about food waste to give them a clearer idea of its effect on our world.
· __https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7xBzAqnXZJc__
· __https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EwVuz0UJl2A__
4. Realizing the Importance: Students will work in teacher-chosen PBL groups to brainstorm ways to educate their peers and the school’s population about the amount of cafeteria food waste and its effects on the world. They may take statistics and use them to compare and create a better understanding of the intensity of the problem. They may use technology and visual representations to make their points clear and their messages engaging. A great digital tool is the Prezi, (www.prezi.com) a storytelling tool for presenting ideas.
5. Reaching Out: Groups will present their statistics through their chosen technology or visual representation to the class. They will be assessed by a rubric they were given before they created their presentation. The group with the most effective version of the information will be chosen to present to the entire school as an introduction to a future informational event.
6. Research: Now that the students understand why the cause for food waste control is so worthy, they must begin their research for effectively reducing food waste in their school cafeteria. A few ideas are found below but student PBL groups are in charge of research in its entirety.
· Composting
__http://www.greenmountainfarmtoschool.org/wp/wp-content/uploads/Guide-to-Staring-a-School-Compost-Program.pdf__
· Food for Pigs/Farms__https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qn9siiIiDw4__
· Examples of schools with No-Waste policies__http://www.wastefreelunches.org/SchoolsReduceWaste.html__
__https://hawthorne-elmhurstcusd205-il.schoolloop.com/cms/page_view?d=x&piid=&vpid=1380276808014__
7. Time to Act: Upon beginning the first tier of reducing food waste in their school cafeteria, each group will work on different tasks with the same goal in mind: to reduce cafeteria waste by 50 pounds a week. (This project will be ongoing and as goals are met, they will be reassessed and changed as time goes on).
· One group will write a grant to obtain funds that would help in the purchasing of re-usable sandwich containers, so students would not need throwaway baggiess. A parent-school connection will also be necessary.
· One group will hold a special fundraiser, where they will use the funds to help the school purchase a purified water fountain where students could fill up their reusable water bottles. This would promote the consumption of more water (vs. soda and juice) and would also lessen the trash from juice box containers. A parent-school connection will also be necessary.
· Another group will take care of the communication of this project by creating e-newsletters, a blog and daily announcements promoting and encouraging a waste-free school. This will be the essential parent-school connection so that this goal will be more easily met.
· The last group will be in charge of the composting: setting up and assisting with the new lunchtime dump routine, while also adding to the creation and maintenance that goes along with composting.
8. Measuring Progress: Depending on your school and their available resources and assistance, measuring progress can be accomplished in a few different forms. Weighing the garbage would be the most reliable option, however, some schools may not have large scales. Another much more practical option lies in counting the bags of garbage. Before beginning this PBL project, ask your janitor to count the amount of garbage bags leaving the cafeteria.
9. Beyond Tier 1: Depending on where the students are at with their goals, the teacher may want to move on with the next step of the Waste-Free Cafeteria movement. This could be as simple as raising goals and keeping in communication with parents, or it could involve transforming your school cafeteria even further.
- Assessment: Students will be assessed through rubrics with specific categories such as organization, research, communication etc.
Guiding Resources: Refer to our group’s Diigo website for resources used.https://groups.diigo.com/group/pbl-mother-nature